


After the Sun Sets

by Natasja



Category: Me Before You (2016), Me Before You - Jojo Moyes
Genre: (sort of), Ableism, Assisted Suicide, Euthanasia, F/M, Fix-It, Gen, Internalised ableism, Post-Canon, Professionalism, Spitefic, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-06
Updated: 2017-10-06
Packaged: 2019-01-09 21:49:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12285051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Natasja/pseuds/Natasja
Summary: Inspired by a talk between friends about disabled representation in fiction and the entertainment industry. What would have happened to Lou post-canon if there was even a hint of reality involved.





	After the Sun Sets

**Author's Note:**

> After the fix. Warning: it's a long one...

“Ms Louisa Clark? Thank you for coming in.”

Lou hadn’t wanted to come to the Police Station, or do anything at all, really. Still reeling from Will’s death, all she wanted to do was curl up into a ball and cry. But the officer who contacted her had made it clear that declining was not an option. “Thank you for being so patient. May I ask what this is about?”

The officer’s stern face betrayed nothing. “We need to ask you a few questions about Will Traynor’s death.”

Lou flinched at the reminder, but nodded. Will had been forced to go to Switzerland because Euthanasia was illegal in the UK. It was natural that there would be an investigation, especially with the way his parents had felt about his decision. “I’ll do my best.”

The officer, a Constable Travers, nodded as he wrote something in a notebook. “I should hope so, Ms Clark. Now, how did you meet Mr Traynor?”

It seemed so long ago, it was hard to believe it had been only months. “I took a temporary job as his carer and companion, through an agency.”

Travers raised an eyebrow,  writing a few more notes. “Did you have any experience in the disability industry before that? Any training or qualifications?”

Lou shook her head. “No, but I’ve always been a fast learner. I’ve had a lot of temporary jobs, you see. Helping make ends meet.”

A second officer, this one a woman, entered and sat down, handing Travers a file. “Well, that’s in your favour, though it means we’ll have some questions for the agency, now.”

What? How was Lou’s prior inexperience in her favour? “I don’t understand.”

Travers sighed. “Ms Clark, do you know if Mr Traynor was in palliative care, or merely assisted living?”

That had only come up in conversation once, when Will was arguing with his mother. Lou had heard the raised voices from the next room. “Assisted living, I think. I don’t know for sure.”

The female officer, Inspector Wren, shook her head slightly. “When you began a relationship with Mr Traynor, were you still employed as his carer?”

That was harder to answer. Will and Lou had never really given a name to what was between them, even though Lou had loved him with all of her heart. “We grew close and I fell in love with him, but we never actually called each other boyfriend and girlfriend. I resigned as his carer a few weeks before he died.”

Travers put down his pen, resting his head on one hand, the one that had previously held a pen, with a soft groan. Wren’s face could have been carved from granite. “Ms Clark, I am going to repeat a series of phrases. Please tell us if you recognise and understand those phrases.”

Lou nodded, more confused than ever. The officers were acting as though something was terribly wrong, rather than the technically-legal act of travelling to another country where euthanasia was legal to die.

Inspector Wren took a deep breath, as if restraining herself. “Workplace Ethics and Professional Boundaries.”

A set of moral rules that governed a workplace or profession, particularly between people at different levels of authority. “Yes.”

Wren looked like she wanted to punch something before her face smoothed back to its impersonation of a statue. “Financial abuse of a vulnerable person.”

Taking money from an impaired person, either directly through theft or by manipulation. “Yes. Is there a point to this?”

Travers laid a calming hand on his colleague’s wrist before she could do more than clench a fist. “Ms Clark, you are very close to being charged with more than one serious crime. I suggest you be a little less flippant.”

A crime! What had Lou done to be charged with anything? “I don’t know what you’re talking about! Please, I haven’t done anything wrong.”

Neither officer looked very sympathetic. “You had no experience in the care industry, yet were given charge of a disabled person with very high care requirements. You entered a relationship with this person while still employed as his carer. Upon his death, knowing each other for only months, he named you the main beneficiary in his Will. You had no prior acquaintance, but quickly became almost his sole companion. You benefited greatly, some might say unreasonably, by his death.”

Wren leaned forward. “A lot of red flags have been raised. Surely you can see why the law might be concerned. Your ignorance of the care profession might be a mitigating factor, but you clearly have a basic knowledge of Ethics, and therefore little excuse for your actions.”

Put like that, Lou sounded like the worst kind of monster, a predator upon a lonely and vulnerable man, feigning affection to manipulate him for her own financial gain. Glancing at a window, she could see her reflection, as pale as a ghost. As though her life had not been enough of a nightmare. 

Frantically, she shook her head. “It wasn’t like that at all! Will said that he wanted to die, that he couldn’t face life crippled and dependant. I wanted him to live, but he didn’t want to; he said he would be holding me back and wanted me to live life to the fullest, with someone who could give me more than a half-life.”

Now Wren placed a hand on Travers’s shoulder. “I see. Well, Ms Clark, if you will follow Constable Travers into the next room, he will take your official statement. I suggest you avoid leading words like ‘cripple’ when you report.”

Travers pushed away from the desk, revealing that he, too, was in a wheelchair, both legs amputated above the knee. Wren gently lifted the non-dominant arm, hanging limp beside him, and rested it on his leg as Travers used a control stick to move around the desk.

Oh. Crap.

Travers let the chilly silence speak for him, and there was absolutely no humour in Wren’s smile. “It’s fortunate that you no longer need that job as a carer, Ms Clark, because after this, you may rest assured that no reputable company would hire you.”

Following the constable and feeling absolutely horrible about her previous words, Lou wished that she could take back the entire interview. Treena had often teased that Lou wasn’t smart, but now, Lou felt truly stupid.

She just hoped that this mistake wasn’t one that came with big consequences.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I work in the care industry, and when I saw the trailer, my first thought was “Is she insane?” 
> 
> Carers have to read and sign all kinds of legal forms before they are even rostered for a shift. Among those forms are a list of things that will get them fired on the spot, no questions asked. A non-professional relationship with a client for whom you are responsible is one of those things. That doesn’t even have to mean a romantic relationship, it can be as simple as attending a function as anything other than their carer (exceptions if you are also a family member and it is a family event). It wouldn’t have been a problem if Lou had resigned as soon as she realised she was emotionally attached and continued the relationship as someone who DIDN’T have a Duty of Care to Will, but that isn’t what happened. Lou didn’t quit until after Will stated that he still wanted to die, well after she knew how he felt about her.
> 
> My second thought was “Are the agency and the mother insane?”
> 
> There are various levels of care. The lowest level, domestic assistance, (Cooking, cleaning, shopping) can be done by pretty much anyone. Social support or community access (Companionship, taking a client into the community) is also on this level, though it varies depending on the level of support needed. That is the kind of job Louisa is qualified for. 
> 
> Personal Care is another aspect that varies depending on the level of support, and the equipment needed. Unless Will was able to transfer (bed to chair, chair to shower seat/commode chair) under his own power and only needed help reaching certain areas, this is another thing that Louisa is frighteningly unqualified for. Quadriplegia requires all kinds of specialised equipment, training in how to use them and, ideally, more than one person. 
> 
> There are one-day competency training sessions you can do, but no evidence that Lou had ever even attended one. The Agency should have, at the very least, organised some professional training before they sent Lou to work for the Traynors. Sending an untrained carer with no experience to look after someone with such a high level of needed support is a lawsuit in the making. 
> 
> While you can make the argument that Will loved Lou and wanted her to be happy, without lack of funds holding her back, you have to agree that the whole thing looks very bad from an outside perspective.  
> A pretty young woman from a financially insecure background takes care of a wealthy man, acting as almost his sole companion. He takes her to concerts, on an expensive vacation, and leaves her a substantial amount of money on his death shortly after they begin dating. Even if you accept that they were in a loving-if-deeply-unethical relationship, that’s more than a few red flags.
> 
> Both Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide are illegal in the UK. Legally, Will’s parents should have made a record that Will was suicidal, and should have mentioned it to both Lou, and whatever care company they worked with. Euthanasia is different from Assisted Suicide, and both differ in a legally crucial way from Palliative Care.  
> Euthansia is to directly act to end the life of a person with a terminal condition. Under the law, it can be charged as murder or manslaughter.   
> Assisted suicide, as the name implies, is to encourage or assist a person to end their own life. While suicide is not illegal, assisting in someone else’s suicide carries a penalty of up to 14 years in prison.  
> Palliative Care is the care given in the final stretch of a person’s life. All options have been exhausted and that person is going to die in the near future, be it weeks or months. The carer is responsible for making them comfortable in the meantime until that day comes. It is a job that requires extensive training, and a non-attached mindset.
> 
> Camilla still believed that her son would decide to live, so Will was not in Palliative Care. If he was, it makes Lou’s actions even more inexcusable.


End file.
